Nigeria Ranks 61st Globally, 2nd In Africa On Startup Ecosystem Index

The Nigerian startup ecosystem has been ranked 61st globally and second in Africa on the Global Startup Ecosystem Index by StartupBlink.

Nigeria displaced Kenya to spot 62 and third in Africa. According to the ranking, South Africa is the highest-ranked African country at 49th and the only African country in the global top 50. Lagos is the highest-ranked African city, and only in the global top 100 on the list.

The Global Startup Ecosystem Index has been updated annually since 2017 and is a comprehensive startup ecosystem ranking of 1000 cities and 100 countries.

The Chief Executive Officer, StartupBlink, Eli David, described 2022 as the year of global startup ecosystem uncertainty which is not necessarily bad since it presents new opportunities and potential exponential growth in sectors and technologies.

The report said, “Nigeria had a fantastic year, climbing two spots to rank 61st globally. It is the highest-ranking country in Western Africa and the second-highest-ranking country in Africa, displacing Kenya which dropped to third in Africa.

“Nigeria ranks fourth in the Middle East and Africa region. Nigeria’s climb is the result of Lagos’ success. Lagos has seen a massive jump of 41 places to 81st globally. It is the first African city to break into the global top 100, a milestone that should be celebrated (we should mention that Lagos already ranked 99th in 2019 but lost this position in 2020).”

The report stated that Lagos is ranked 24th globally in the Foodtech industry and 43rd in eCommerce and retail. It added that Lagos is the only African city to reach the global top 30 for any of the 11 industries.

According to it, Abuja has decreased by seven spots to 473rd but has captured the second position in Nigeria from Ibadan, which lost 308 spots to rank 661st.

The report revealed that the total number of Nigerian cities in the global top 1000 fell from seventh to third, suggesting that Nigerian talent may be moving to Lagos at the expense of other cities. South Africa now has the highest number of ranked cities in the top 1000.

It said, “Our recommendation for policymakers in Nigeria is to strengthen other ecosystems, given the size of the country, and push one more ecosystem towards the top 200.”